7) What does a Healthy Tree and an Unhealthy Tree look like?
Just like an botanist can look at a tree and be able to spot signs of health or disease, we can do the same for our faith. Once we are aware of the broad characteristics that reveal if our faith is healthy or diseased, no matter if it in the roots or the branches. These sections will list the main signs the determine the health of grow looking from the outside. Lastly we will look inside the tree to see how a tree should grow inside and what issues can arise.
Healthy Growth
There are several ways to tell if a tree is healthy, past the absence of issues and disease which will be addressed in the next section, healthy trees will have well developed branches, leaves and fruit (which does include seeds), as well as yearly growth. Just like these three characteristics, our faith should have the same thing, well developed actions, individual deeds, and fruit. Specifically just like leaves grow off of branches, our faith has many genres or types of actions with individual deeds that grow out of them. These deeds, symbolized as leaves, can range from prayers we make, praises we say, acts of worship we do, to acts of love towards God and others. Finally, just like all trees produce fruit, our faith produces fruit as well. The four large broad terms that show health in our faith characterized by these four terms: godliness, virtue, steadfastness and self-control. These descriptions will be expounded and contrasted throughout this work, because every section should be growing towards these goals.
Disease
Just like problems and diseases can be spotted in trees by their leaves, bark, dead limb, parasites, and growth at the base of the tree, there are characteristics that we can view to know if our faith is not healthy. This work will primarily use the image of tree disease for sin, because too often sin can be too narrowly defined. Yet with tree issues and disease, they can be spotted not only in actions (branches) but also in our understanding (roots) as well as the inner working of our faith (the heart of the tree). The four large umbrella terms that show disease in our faith would best be described by these four terms: evilness, immorality, unreliability and recklessness. These characteristics will be elaborated on and contrasted through this work, since every section could struggle with these deadly issues.
Xylem and Phloem
Now we understand how tree anatomy informs holistic faith, let’s look at few more specific elements related to how a tree grows. First, the entire sapwood layer is made of something called Xylem, which functions like a drinking straw, that absorbs moisture from the roots up the trunk and into the branches and to the leaves. In the analogy, our understanding, like roots, absorbs the messages of God as water, which is used in photosynthesis. The byproduct of photosynthesis is sugar, which is the tree’s food, and oxygen which is released into the world. This sugar that is made in the leaves, is sent back down the tree through the inner bark layer, which is called Phloem. This Phloem distributes food throughout the tree to where it is needed, flowing from the leaves, down the branches and trunk, into the roots. Sugar, that Phloem sends downwards parallels love in our faith. This love is produced through our actions and helps our faith grow, starting with our actions and strengthening our understanding. In summary, the message of God like water flows up from the roots, which is our understanding, up through the branches, which is our actions, and into the leaves, which is our individual deeds. Through exposure to the Sun/God and carbon dioxide/suffering, this then produced which produce sugar, which is love, that then flows down throughout the tree, help it grow.
Cohesion and Transpiration
Two aspects that are required for the proper flow of water and sugar through the tree is cohesion and transpiration. Transpiration is the constant flow of water absorbed by the roots, that moves through the tree, into the leaves and releases excess water as water vapor. This process is only possible by cohesion, which is how the tissue in the sapwood is completely connected from every root to every branch. If there is an hole or gap in these tubes, cohesion is not possible, which would not allow the water and sugar to flow properly through the tree. Likewise if we have large holes in our faith, either our understanding or actions, the message of God (water) can not flow properly and be converted into love (sugar) which continues to grow our faith in the constant growth process.
